The fatal stabbing followed a celebration for the couple’s first child.
CHICAGO, Ill. — What began as a baby shower for Keshia Golden and Calvin Sidney ended hours later with Sidney bleeding from a stab wound, Golden under arrest and a murder case now headed to trial.
The Cook County case centers on a narrow but deeply contested span of time in October 2022. Golden’s lawyers say Sidney attacked her while she was eight months pregnant and that she used a knife to survive. Prosecutors say Golden stabbed Sidney after an argument had been broken up and after he went into a bedroom. A judge has set Golden’s trial for Aug. 17.
Golden and Sidney hosted the shower Oct. 22, 2022, as they prepared for the birth of their first child. Relatives were present, and the gathering later gave way to a dispute inside the home. Prosecutors have said the couple argued over who would use a microwave to heat leftovers. They say Golden knocked food from Sidney’s hands and Sidney pushed her onto a counter. A family member separated them, according to the prosecution account. That moment is expected to be one of the most important points in the trial because it could help jurors decide whether the later stabbing was part of the same attack or a separate act.
Defense lawyers give a more violent account of the night. Julie Koehler, Golden’s attorney, said Sidney hit Golden, grabbed her hair, slammed her head into a kitchen counter and dragged the fight into another room. Koehler said Golden feared Sidney was trying to kill her and her unborn child. “She reached for a knife to protect herself from her abuser,” Koehler said at a rally in downtown Chicago. The defense says Golden then stabbed Sidney in the leg. The knife cut his femoral artery, a major blood vessel in the thigh, and the injury became fatal.
Prosecutors say Sidney went into a bedroom after the fight was interrupted. Their account says Golden walked into that room with a knife and stabbed Sidney while he was lying on a bed. Sidney was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Golden was arrested at the scene after she returned to the apartment, according to early accounts of the case. She was charged with first-degree murder, and a grand jury later indicted her on two first-degree murder counts. The child Golden was carrying survived, and Golden later gave birth after she was released from jail on bond.
The case has remained active for more than three years because the legal fight did not end with the basic facts of the stabbing. The defense has sought dismissal, saying Golden acted in self-defense and should not face trial. Prosecutors have declined. In March, the state offered Golden a plea to second-degree murder with two years of probation and no additional time served. Golden rejected the offer. Defense lawyers said the plea still would impose a felony conviction, possible registration requirements and barriers to work and benefits. The state’s attorney’s office said the offer was rejected and that the case remains pending.
Golden’s supporters say the fight cannot be understood without the months that came before it. Police had been called to the couple’s home repeatedly. Five domestic violence reports were filed between June and September 2022. Four involved Golden’s claims that Sidney choked, slapped, pushed or punched her. Court records also show Golden sought an order of protection in July after saying Sidney punched her in the face. Defense lawyers say Sidney had choked Golden when she was 18 weeks pregnant. They also say she previously miscarried after physical abuse by Sidney. Prosecutors have noted that Sidney once accused Golden of cutting his neck, though he did not press charges.
Golden’s detention after the stabbing also became part of the case’s public story. She was first held on a $2 million bond while pregnant. A judge later lowered the bond to $50,000 and said the reduction was in the best interest of the unborn child. Golden had to post $5,000. Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration and the Chicago Community Bond Fund helped pay the money so Golden would not remain jailed before giving birth. She was released in early November 2022 and later had her daughter, Ky’liyah. Supporters say she has been raising her child while following pretrial rules.
When Golden appeared in court April 7, her supporters packed the courtroom in purple. They had come after rallies and public calls for Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to drop the case. Instead, Judge Steven Watkins set the trial date. Kyle Keenan, another attorney for Golden, said prosecutors were sending the wrong message. “The message that the state is sending is that if you defend yourself, you will be punished,” he said. Prosecutors did not discuss the evidence in detail after the hearing, citing the pending case.
The coming trial will likely feature testimony from relatives who were inside the home, police officers who responded to prior domestic calls, medical evidence about Sidney’s wound and legal arguments over Golden’s state of mind. Jurors may hear about the alleged microwave dispute, the baby shower, the physical layout of the home and the timing between the fight and the stabbing. They also may hear evidence about past abuse if the judge finds it relevant to Golden’s claim that she feared Sidney in that moment.
The legal standard will not ask jurors to decide whether the relationship was troubled in general. It will ask whether Golden’s use of force was justified when she used it. That question has put the case at the center of a wider debate among advocates, prosecutors and defense lawyers over how courts evaluate survivors who fight back. Golden’s lawyers say the facts show survival. Prosecutors say they show murder. Sidney’s death remains the criminal charge before the court.
Golden’s next scheduled court date is July 13. Her first-degree murder trial is set for Aug. 17 in Cook County court.
Author note: Last updated May 5, 2026.